European commissioner lauds nations’ commitments to curbing climate change

BBC : To date, 149 nations have announced plans to curb carbon emissions in anticipation of the upcoming meeting in Paris of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . The number of nations committing to fight global warming in advance of the meeting is “astounding,” according to Miguel Arias Cañete, the European commissioner for climate action and energy. He says those nations produce almost 90% of global emissions, so the response is much greater than that for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the first attempt to establish an international agreement to address global warming. The fact that some of the “big players,” such as the European Union and the US, have presented ambitious goals has inspired other nations to follow suit, says Jacquie McGlade, chief scientist of the UN environment program. Because governments are volunteering their own action plans rather than having one imposed on them by the United Nations, she adds, the results may be much more positive as well.